Three NSWRL teams vying for glory at women's nationals

Newly-crowned champions, the Harvey Norman NSW City U19s team, leads the state’s charge at the 2023 Harvey Norman Women’s National Championships starting today, Thursday 18 May, at Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

City, coached by Letitia Taylor, is one of three sides representing NSWRL, alongside NSW Country U19s and NSW Emerging Country, which is made up of clubs from the Lisa Fiaola U17s competition.

The annual tournament has 12 teams in three Pools across four days of action culminating with knock-out finals on Sunday 21 May. All matches are at Pizzey Park.

The teams are a mix of U19s and Open women’s teams from Australia and New Zealand.

NSW City handed NSW Country a 26-8 defeat a fortnight ago at the Country-City Championships at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah.

NSW Country coach Courtney Crawford told nswrl.com.au her players would be even better prepared for the Gold Coast having worked on a few key areas from the match against City.

Harvey Norman NSW Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder and NSW U19s coach Kate Mullaly will both be at Pizzey Park to watch all matches.

The tournament allows players, who may not usually get pathways opportunities, the chance to showcase their skill on a bigger stage and in front of coaches, recruitment officers and talent scouts from both NSWRL and QRL competitions and the NRLW.

The pools are listed below. All games are being live-streamed on the NRL.com website, with the match schedule also available there.

Pool A

NSW City 

Queensland Sapphires 

NSW Emerging Country

Western Australia

Pool B

Queensland Rubys 

NSW Country

Ahi Ka Aotearoa

First Nations Gems

Pool C

Northern Territory

Australian Defence Force

South Australia